ISEQ bucks trend with marginal gain

THE ISEQ index of Irish shares managed to buck the trend yesterday, by posting a marginal daily gain, but still finished 2010 down 3% on the prior year, overall.

Yesterday’s 0.24% increase (to 2,885.10 points), however, was driven by a mix of good gains and recoveries. The likes of food group, Aryzta (up 38c), ferry operator Irish Continental Group (ICG) (up 22c) and building materials specialist, Kingspan (up 34c) turned around losses from earlier in the week; as did Ryanair, up by 5c at €3.77.

There were also strong gains for financial services provider IFG; paper and packaging specialist, Smurfit Kappa; and DCC, which was up by 10c at €23.60.